Manslaughter case against Canadian soldier in hands of military jury

Maj. Darryl Watts (right) and lawyer Balfour Der arrive for court martial proceedings in Calgary, Alberta on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. Watts is charged with the death of a soldier and injuries to others on a training range in Afghanistan in 2010.

Larry MacDougal/The Canadian Press

Bill Graveland

CALGARY

The Canadian Press

Published December 1, 2012Updated March 26, 2017

The fate of a Canadian reservist charged in a fatal training accident in Afghanistan has been placed in the hands of a military jury.

Commander Peter Lamont, the military judge overseeing the court martial in Calgary, delivered a two-hour charge to the five-member jury panel late Saturday afternoon.

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"The time has come for you to make your finding," said Cmdr. Lamont.

"You have now heard all of the evidence. In every court martial there are two judges. I am one — you are the other," he said. "You are the judges of the facts. You – not I – will determine the evidence in this case."

Cpl. Josh Baker, 24, died and four other soldiers were injured when a Claymore anti-personnel mine, packed with 700 steel balls, peppered their platoon on a training range near Kandahar city in February 2010.

The Crown argues that Maj. Watts, who was the platoon commander, turned a blind eye to safety standards and abdicated his duty as a leader during the exercise.

"Maj. Watts, being the platoon commander having ordered his platoon onto that range, is responsible for the conduct of the range," said senior prosecutor Maj. Tony Tamburro in an interview with reporters Saturday.

"He can delegate certain tasks to his subordinates but he still remains accountable for the way those tasks are performed."

The defence counters that Maj. Watts had no training on the Claymore, so he handed over responsibility for safety to his second-in-command, who was an expert on the weapon.

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Cmdr. Lamont told the panel it had to be sure within a reasonable doubt that Maj. Watts was guilty of the charges he has been charged with and that every person charged with an offence is presumed to be innocent.

"You must find the accused innocent of the offence unless the prosecution proves it beyond a reasonable doubt," said Cmdr. Lamont.

The platoon, which was stationed at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar city, usually visited the Kan Kala firing range about once a month.

The day of the accident the range was divided into four training sections. The first two tests of the anti-personnel mine went off without a hitch. But when the second firing occurred, the ball bearings fired backward, hitting Cpl. Baker and four others.

Videos of the accident show several soldiers, including Maj. Watts, standing around watching the tests. They were not inside armoured vehicles or standing behind them for cover, as set out in Canadian Forces safety guidelines.